Sharpened Clichés
by John Locke
Summary: Roy gives a speech that Edward needs to listen to, but he doesn't. It is up to the flame to make him understand it completely. 'To say that love is not needed to live a life to its fullest extent may be a contradiction in its highest form.'


**Sharpened Clichés  
****Prologue**

"Love is nothing but a painful reminder of our damned mortal states. Something so sweetly tender that has no reason to exist only to give us a reason to exist. Yet is denied any justifiable connotation of existence in it's act of elimination in death.

"To love is to be human and to want to love is normalcy. To be normal is to exist within the parameter of society, but society does not accept all love and not all forms of normalcy. Also to be human it takes an effort correlating the mind, soul and, body; a relationship so wanton that one not above the level of normal can achieve it.

"It is better to have love and lose it than to never love at all. And the pain is indeed entirely comparable to have it ripped from this mortal bosom than never know the trying experience that exhausts all our corporeal resources. To know unwieldy pain of scarred memories is much preferred over the curiosities we are born with and die without.

"With love comes responsibilities for another soul, another being, another's _well_ being-though it has been proven time and again it is hard to compensate for our own actions and thoughts in a normal manner, and be able to bring another into our own world. Being so reliant on emotions that have no limits or restrictions with anyone, to be so selfishly dependant on another with purely tainted desires is the epitome of love.

"To have and to hold until death do they part, death in the sense of romance and flowers; in interest and attention spans. A short lived response to the lusty needs of ever sinning breathing creatures with the respectable ability to shift from desire, to want, to need-all within a wasted second of irreplaceable infinite space.

"To err is human, to not err is divine. We all make mistakes in choosing love over rationality and that is what makes us fully human. Our tendencies to choose what is the worst thing for us but think that it, in fact is not, is a rational decision. One moment of pure desecrated love can overshadow a life of pure misery, clearing out tomes of dreary pasts to give hope for what is imminent.

"The attraction to love is to find within another what we admire in ourselves. High standards are just a flaunting of how much value we place on our own well being, not preparation to care fully for another but to have another care for us.

"Getting over the fact that love ostracizes us, demoralizes us, and creates the worst situations conceivable to our petulant minds is one of the hardest things in life than anyone will ever have to do besides accepting the end of this painful journey. To have that one defining moment seems to have an intoxicating grasp on all that feel, or have felt. Ensnaring the mind with promises of sensory satiating dominance to trap each brain cell-if but only briefly-in the heat of passion predominately withheld from logic driven minds.

"To say that love is not needed to live a life to its fullest extent may be a contradiction in its highest form, yet the truth is always stoppable by another more inflexible truth. All things considered a ploy to deter love is deemed as an evil, and tried as such beneath the scrutiny of society which brings forth a circle of vicious tendencies. Tendencies to judge yet be blind in cases of perfection on pedestals, which in theory is an abnormality to find untainted perfection in times of shadowed minds and spirits. It takes this kind of inviolable anomaly to love in the way we were meant to with all our hearts.

"The way we love today is more with our bodies and minds, disregarding the most essential piece of the powerful trio-the soul. Or better called the heart; such a cliché is obvious to the mind but not at all times. Being able to recognize true and simple love is a gift given to a rare few who have found themselves and want to help other find their own selves with nothing desired in return. Wanting for oneself is the downfall of any love, but hope for another inspires the success of a relationship.

"No one ever said that life would be easy and without suffering, but suffering was never said to not hold life lessons or life's greatest gifts. One gift given by suffering _is_ love; though the state of being that love is, is mortal and dying-but the memories cast are not as such. Holding on to the pain of loving sustains the soul to reach its peak and fall into abatement, leaving a trace of the burning sensation that many mistake as enjoyable.

"This is truly the adventure any human must make, to find and lose love. To figure out what love means to them and them uniquely in the face of adversity. Becoming fully human in making mistakes and finding themselves with the process of denying otherworldly pressures of bad faith, looking inward to gain strength that is hidden amongst the cobwebs dusting the corners of rationality.

"One day we all might find our ability to love without pain, but why should we wait until death when this stage of love wouldbe lost?"

This introspective piece was at first disinheriting for all of his men (and more) to hear; it was belittling not only them but the human race as a whole. Each word was said with such distinction not a sound was uttered from the lips of the audience. It struck each ear with such severity because it was the truth, and that in itself was a rare thing amongst gems. Hearing a speech with such intensity and vigor brought a rouse in every mind, deterring them from their initial disgusted reactions.

The speaker was Colonel Roy Mustang, who was asked to give a speech to Central Head Quarters did indeed fulfill his duty to a level unforeseen. With no specific topic given to him, he had free range of the speech's subject matter. And it was more of a test to see this infamous flame's sharp tongue in action.

No one could have thought that what would come from this relatively young man's mind and mouth would have any relevance to love or something akin to a sermon teaching his fellow _military peers_ how to go about such a nondescript topic. This man standing behind the podium with a fist clenched against the wood, and glittering obsidian eyes filled with passion just radiated a sense of achievement, confidence, and knowledge.

Taking in the awe and splendor of such a shock slowed down the processes inside the working minds, delaying the proper and polite reaction; applause. Though it was slow, the first to bring their hands together were a small group of astonished yet pleased individuals who bowed their heads as they stood to congratulate their superior. Such a furious sound coming from five sets of hands seemed to stir the others out of their reveries and bring them to their feet howling with admiration.

All but one member of the audience was brought to their feet by such an eloquent display of reality in terms of a small part of human nature. This was no surprise to Roy, as he grew back to his full height after bowing in acceptance of his applause. As he watched the short alchemist in the front adjust his gloves nonchalantly. If what he said could not get through to the younger man, then action would have to be taken to teach him rather than express the lesson through words.

* * *

_Author's Note: I'm back... but not with another chapter of Fire Hazard... I promise I will update that soon, it's been months but it's not dead I swear >. _


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